Empowering a generation of thinkers, doers and game changers.

Millennial On A Mission: Emilie Aries

This week’s Millennial On A Mission is in the business of encouraging millennial women to live their best lives professionally and personally. As the CEO of Bossed Up, she travels across the country sharing her story of overcoming burn-out both in and out of the work place, how she learned to take better care of herself and how others can do the same while building careers of their dreams.

Hailing from a small town outside Hartford, Connecticut, Emilie grew up as one in of four kids in her parent’s love-filled but overflowing home. She studied political science at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and then went on to continue her studies in a fellowship program at the Kennedy School of Government. “After college I served on behalf of newly-elected President Barack Obama as the youngest State Director in the nation helping to pass policies life federal health reform with Organizing for America,” Emilie recalls. “I loved my work, but learned quickly that the skills I’d mastered to get an A in school didn’t apply quite so well in work after college.” In fact her perfectionism and overworking put her on the fast track to burn out three years in, eventually leading her to start Bossed Up, an organization dedicated to helping women get out of the cycle of burnout and craft happy, healthy, and sustainable career paths.

MOAM: What inspired you to pursue your choice of career? Who are some individuals you admire in and out of your field of work? What challenges have you faced in building your Bossed Up, and what have you learned from them?

EA: As millennial women, we have more choices to consider than any other generation of women have ever faced in history. It’s a privilege, sure, but that doesn’t mean making choices about how to craft a sustainable – or stable, for that matter – career is some easy feat! In fact, in a world in which women are still socialized to be caring, nice, and put everyone else’s needs before our own, it’s challenging to get clear on the life we want to live – and even more challenging to go out and demand it!

I started Bossed Up to serve as a clearinghouse where millennial women could bring come together and gain reliable expert support in crafting a career path that works for their lives – and vice-versa. I refuse to draw some imaginary boundary between what happens in our careers and what happens in the rest of our lives – because to do so would to silence and shame the very real ways they overlap. I believe that only when women feel strong and healthy mentally and physically, can we truly achieve our full potential professionally. Investing in our personal health and happiness is an investment in our career longevity. Bossed Uphelps us retool for this reality, and in doing so, sustain our ambition, drive, and impact over the long term.

To Emilie, being a Millennial On A Missionmeans pursuing your passions – personally or professionally – in a way that adds value to your life and the lives of others. “When you dare to do you, you never know who you’re inspiring to do the same.”